


Hallstatt

by kalika_999



Series: Jack and Brock's misadventures [76]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Austria, Bad English, Bakery, HYDRA Husbands, M/M, Small Towns, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 06:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19883044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalika_999/pseuds/kalika_999
Summary: Brock goes to visit family in Italy, he wanders into Austria.





	Hallstatt

**Author's Note:**

> *waves at everyone* I missed broken English Jack

Brock goes to Italy for three months to see family, especially his Nonna because he just may be missing her the most. But for two weeks he wanders across adjoining countries to see some sights he’s been interested in and somehow ends up in Hallstatt, Austria.   


He’s managed to find a room in an older building advertised as a boarding house and it’s overlooking the water’s edge which suits him just fine. The lady that runs the place is named Helena, she barely speaks English and knows no Italian whatsoever, but they make due with a few words he knows, and hand gestures accompanied by google translate for the rest.

Helena’s husband is the cook and they serve an incredible breakfast the next morning that prepares him for the day. When he gets back to his room from his trip to see the salt mines and the impromptu hike around it, there’s a bottle of wine and a plate of fruit, cheese and chocolates waiting for him as well as a reminder for dinner if he wishes to attend. It’s a nice gesture and he takes his bottle and plate to the small bathtub, soaking into a well earned bubble bath.

The next morning after a light meal and having a chat with Nonna to assure her he's fine, it’s a guy who has a small little bakery at the end of the street that catches his attention. It looks quiet and nondescript when it’s closed, just like any other shop along the pathway but right now, while open, there’s two small black wicker chairs and a tiny table next to a chalkboard sign written completely in German and baskets of bread loaves just past the entrance coaxing him to enter. He must have missed the place the other times he’s gone past, most likely distracted by all the beauty he’s surrounded by.

To be honest, he’s never one for bread anyway. Sure, he eats it once in a while but not enough to get him to go inside and see.  


The guy who works there though recognizes him even if he doesn’t think he’s see him and waves, a partial smile across his lips when Brock stops trying to decipher what’s written and is about to head off again.

“You tourist?” he asks.

Brock laughs. “How’d ya tell?”

The guy shrugs and his smile turns into an amused grin. “Have confuse face.” He lifts up a flour covered finger and circles his own face. “Carry backpack before, now no more backpack, less sleepy face too.”  


It’s the best English Brock’s heard since he’s entered this tiny little town and it feels nice to actually get to talk to someone, well if they’re interested. “Yer English is great.”  


The guy pulls a face and he looks about two steps from murder when he does it. Maybe it says a lot about Brock but he actually looks pretty hot like that. “No good English, I still learn. You visit long, we talk? Good practice.”

“Sure, I’m ‘ere a little bit.” Brock confirms despite his plans to leave tomorrow. Maybe it’s because he’s at least a head taller than Brock and has mossy green eyes he can’t stop staring at. Maybe he really does have a need for human contact with someone via sitting down and just hanging out instead of stumbling around and making dumb gestures. Whichever it is, Brock doesn’t have plans to leave anymore, at least for a day or two.

The guy looks surprised. “You do? For me?”

Brock shrugs. “It ain’t a problem fer me, would be nice to talk to someone around ‘ere.”  


“Is small town, not many tourist visit.” The guy shrugs, replacing an empty basket with a few new loaves. “I am Jacek. You call Jack, get used to American name.”

“Ya know you ain’t gotta have a name change to speak English, yeah?”

Jack smirks at him and nods. “I know this, yes.”

“Alright then, well m’Brock.” Brock offers, putting his hand out. “Nice to meet ya.” He doesn’t necessarily have small hands, but Jack’s overtake his without effort, not that he minds.

They decide on a time to meet up later that evening at a little food stall on the walking path near the boat docks. Brock’s gone by it numerous times since he’s been there, reminds him of one of those hot chocolate snack shacks in New York that go up when the weather gets cold and everyone wants to go out to ice skate around; but Jack swears it’s good despite how it looks, and Brock wants to believe him so he goes along with it.

Jack holds out a small pastel blue pastry box when he arrives, inside are four little pink cakes he can only assume are petit fours. “Is Punschkrapfen..for thank you. Yellow cake, apricot jam and little bit rum.” He explains as Brock feels the back of his neck warming.  


“Oh, thanks.”

It’s mostly conversation over beers and the best Schnitzel Brock’s ever eaten. He learns that Jack is actually Polish but after ending up travelling a little like he did and spontaneously deciding to visit Hallstatt, he immediately felt like it was somewhere he could really enjoy as a permanent place to live. He also learns that he enjoys the outdoors but does stay inside to catch as much hockey as he can, though Jack’s greatest passion has always been baking and he decided to pursue it here.

Brock really doesn’t get much out about himself, but between Jack wanting to learn English, listening to him talking and admiring him in deep silence, it’s nice that for once in his life he’s the quiet one in the conversation.   


On his way back to his room he offers Helena two of the Punschkrapfen after a small struggle over accepting the treat before she does and he takes the last two upstairs with him.   


He texts a picture of them to Bucky, letting him know about his day as he tests one before quickly devouring the other and falls asleep waiting for a text back from New York.

The next morning there’s a return message from Bucky making fun of him and Brock wonders why they’re friends. The text ends with Bucky telling him he misses him a lot and Brock then remembers that’s why they still are.

In the evening he gets Topfentascherl from Jack as a thank you for his time. Helena tells him it’s a curd-filled pastry with a smile he should be more curious over but doesn’t ask about.

He learns that Jack is an only child, and that his parents still live in the small town where he was born and grew up. He avoids the question when Brock asks why he moved here instead of just making it his vacation spot and opening shop in his hometown, and Jack only tells the story about calling in love with Hallstatt again. There’s clearly something more to it but Brock’s not one to poke his nose into someone’s business if they’re not offering.

The next day, Brock offers to buy Jack dinner and they go to a nice restaurant instead. He learns that Jack takes online classes when he can and hopes to maybe expand his lone shop into something bigger and branch out the business to offer more staple goods. Brock is on the verge of telling him that he’d invest anything Jack needs to make that happen, but he doesn’t think that’s the aim Jack has with telling him about it.   


He gets a half dozen box of Paczki that Jack carries for him back to where Brock’s staying. Before he leaves, Jack quietly informs him he’s not made them for years but suddenly the urge came back to him. Brock doesn’t offer any to Helena this time, feels like he’s not allowed to and when he bites into one of them and tastes raspberry, the one flavor he mentioned that he likes, he smiles to himself unable to sleep until well early into the morning.  


This goes on and on during Brock’s stay that carries from a few days to a few weeks, and he’s gained a few pounds from all the food but there's a happiness in his chest every time they see each other, it turns into a tight knot though when he meets up with Jack the last night of his visit.

Jack is gloomy in his company, he keeps his hands tucked together on his lap and barely acknowledges his arrival. For once he’s too quiet, he has been before but this way is unnerving.  


“What’s goin’ on?” Brock asks, shifting in his chair as some bread is set down for them to snack on while they wait for their order. He doesn’t feel as hungry as he was before arriving.

“Nothing.” Jack mumbles, but he tears off a bit of warm bread and lightly butters it before setting it on his saucer without even taking a bite. He turns his focus on the bottle of wine before setting it back down and just stares at his half empty glass.  


“..Alright, suit yerself.” Brock says because he’s not going to force Jack to talk if he doesn’t feel like it.

Jack continues to not say much of anything when their meals arrive and it doesn’t get any better on their walk back to the boarding house. He does make Brock wait outside the bakery on their way though. This time, the pastry box he comes out with has Cannoli inside, and Brock is a little awestruck at the gesture. “Fer me?”

Jack makes a face. “Break many shell. Hold too tight.”

This makes Brock grin, thinking about Jack wearing that expression across his face the whole time he was creating them, it’s way too serious for his line of work.

Jack lightly brushes his fingers against the edging of the pastry box. “I no want to tell you, but now think I wait too long.”

He doesn’t elaborate and Brock tilts his head in curiosity. Hope wells up within his belly but he’s not exactly sure what he’s waiting for. “Tell me what?”

“Words difficult.”

Jack’s expression begs for Brock to do something so he does, reaching a hand out carefully towards Jack’s until he gets a small awkward nod and takes it. After what seems like a long drawn out moment, Jack tangles their fingers together and gives it a small squeeze, his shoulders easing down a little.

“I think, I fall in love.” Jack says slowly, like he’s concentrated on trying to piece everything together. His voice is so soft, Brock barely hears him.

It’s when he glances from side to side, like he’s unsure he should have said what he said that Brock finally reacts, pulling him in for a kiss.   


He only pulls back for air when his back hit the front door of the bakery and laughs when Jack curses under his breath the moment his keys fall on the ground. He’s soon ushered inside and he kisses Jack again in the darkness. They manage to stumble upstairs to the quaint little apartment waiting for them and they’re lost in more kisses when they fall into bed together.   


It doesn’t take much convincing for Brock to stay the night.

Against the early rise of the sun, Brock presses one last kiss on Jack’s temple while he’s still sleeping and writes his phone number down on a piece of stray paper, leaving it on the nightstand and putting all his hopes into it that Jack will call. He lingers a little while longer before he begrudgingly heads back to the boarding house for his things. There’s an early train he has to catch and this isn’t a goodbye, only a promise that they’ll see each other again soon.

_Soon_ takes approximately half a year to get to, a million texts written between them and an abundance of video chats together. Brock hasn’t slept much the past two days. 

He’s so nervous he has to sit down the moment his phone pings and it’s Jack telling him he’s grabbing his bags and that New York is too cold for his liking.   


Brock laughs a little too loud, feeling slightly delirious and firmly cradling a medium sized container against his lap because for the past two weeks he's been practising to make the best damn Sernik ever, and that's with not knowing a damn thing about baking in general.   


The last thing he needs is to drop the one gift he’s been working hard on and driving everyone else crazy with. There’s been a million tastings at the oddest times of the day and an abundant amount of cheesecakes given away to neighbours that probably thought he was psychotic, he’s never bothered to correct them or explain.

With every minute that passes, he's less confident about the dessert, but he'd rather show that he tried his best over dumping it in the closest trash can. Either way, he knows no matter what, Jack will like it because it's just how he is and that makes his shoulders loosen up a small amount.

He stares up at the first few people trickling out from the departure hallway, the crowd waiting close by becoming a bit more lively and his heart starts to beat louder in his ears.   


He gets up to his feet and holds the container closer to his chest, his neck straining a little over a few of the taller people before him. Any minute now, Jack will start making his way down the corridor and they'll finally get to be together again.

Brock thinks he’s finally ready to tell him that he's fallen in love too.  



End file.
